Stardeween Day 1: Pumpkin Carving
Esther shivered as she approached the door to the clinic. As the fall progressed, the air was getting more and more chilly, and the early evening breeze was cutting right through her jeans and flannel shirt. I’ll have to dig out the sweaters long johns soon, she thought as she raised her fist to knock firmly on the door. She exhaled into her cupped hands as she waited, trying to warm her fingers. Just as she was contemplating knocking again, Harvey opened the door.
“Hey!” Harvey greeted her enthusiastically, pulling her in from the cool autumn evening. He shut the door behind her and immediately took her cold hands in his, trying to use the heat from his skin to warm her up. “I missed you today, darlin’. How was everything on the farm?”
Esther removed her hands from his and gave a thumbs up, she smiled up at Harvey as she did so. His slow drawl and half smile making her feel instantly warmer and more relaxed. “It went well, thanks for asking. I was going to ask you to come to the farm.”’
Harvey’s mustache wrinkles with his nose as he considers walking all the way to Skyhill Farm in the weather, which was rapidly getting colder as the night went on. “I thought we were gonna have a movie night here. It’s cold out, getting dark. Stay upstairs with me.”
“I want you to come. I have a surprise for you.”
Before Harvey could argue, she grabbed his hand and began walking towards the clinic door, hoping that her insistence would get the message through to Harvey. He reluctantly followed behind her, not bothering to lock the clinic door as they began heading towards Skyhill Farms.
The walk to the farm, like most things a person did with Esther, was quiet. Esther didn’t speak too much and while everyone else in town seemed a bit put off by that, Harvey found it quite calming. Esther was very easy to read, didn’t say things she didn’t mean, and communicating with her was simple, no hidden messages in her words. She was very upfront, spoke plain as day.
As they arrived at the farm, Esther’s little dog, Grover, came running up to them full speed and jumped up into Esther’s arm. She giggled as she hugged him to her chest, letting him lick her face. Harvey was taken with the beauty of the farm every time he came for a visit, but it couldn’t possibly compare to the beauty of the laughing woman before him. Esther’s nose scrunched up as Grover licked her face, and her eyes squeezed shut from laughter. Her smile revealed a missing tooth on the upper right side, and another one chipped on the corner in front. Her dark hair blew behind her in the wind and her muscled shoulders shook as she continued to giggle. Harvey placed a hand on her waist and kissed the top of her head, a pleasant warmth rising in his chest as he did so. Esther looked up at him, still smiling, and pulled him by the collar of his shirt down to her level, planting a kiss on his cheek.
She put Grover down, “It's on the porch,” she told him, pointing at two large pumpkins with carving equipment sat between them. She climbed the steps, motioning for her to follow him.
“You want us to carve pumpkins?” He asked, eyebrows raised as he eyed the pumpkins suspiciously. He was not much of an artist, and did not care to get his hands dirty. An image flashed in his mind of himself covered in pumpkin guts while Esther laughed at his miserable attempt at a jack-o-lantern. He grimaced at the thought.
Esther grinned, “sure do,” she replied and indicated for Harvey to join her on the porch. She was already seated in front of her pumpkin, and had begun cutting a hole in the top to scoop out its insides. Reluctantly, Harvey joined her on the porch. She finished cutting her circle and placed the knife between them on the wood slats of the porch. She began scooping the guts out of her pumpkin, unceremoniously flinging them off the porch and towards her compost pile. She held up a gooey hand in front of Harvey and grinned.
“You don’t want to roast the seeds?” He asked her as he shrugged off his coat and pushed up his sleeves, trying to preserve the integrity of his clothes.
Esther, who’d made no such effort and was covered in bright orange pumpkin strands shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t like the taste. We can if you want, though.”
Harvey shook his head, “Why’d you want me to come out here and carve a pumpkin anyhow? It won’t turn out to much.”
She chucked another handful of seeds off towards the pig pen, probably for them to root around for them in the morning. “Thought it’d be cute.”
“I mean, I reckon. I just don’t think mine will be any good.”
Esther rolled her eyes and shrugged again, “Oh it’s fine, no one will see them but us.”
Harvey nodded, trying to remind himself to be in the moment and stop spending so much time trapped inside his own head. He leaned over and kissed Esther on one cheek, bringing his hand up to cup the other.
Esther’s eyes went wide and she gasped exaggeratedly, turning to look Harvey straight on. On her cheek was a pumpkin seed, and pumpkin innards had found their way into her hair. She pointed at her hair, putting on a scowl. Immediately, Harvey’s stomach dropped. They were having such a pleasant evening and now he’d made Esther angry with his carelessness. He cringed, and immediately began apologizing. “Oh darlin’, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize I had that on my hands. Here let me get that for you.”
Harvey gingerly reached his hand towards Esther’s cheek, intending to remove the seed. Before he got the chance, however, he was met with a handful of squishy pumpkin ooze to his face and neck and a grinning Esther looking back at him and giggling. She took advantage of his surprise and used it to jump off of the porch and lob another handful of pumpkin guts at Harvey before beginning to take evasive action. Catching on, Harvey grabbed two massive fist-fulls of pumpkin slime from his own pumpkin before jumping off the porch himself, in pursuit of Esther, who’d stopped running and was watching him from beside the chicken coop.
“Oh it’s like that then?” He asked as he began advancing towards her, playfully feigning a menacing attitude.
She laughed heartily and nodded, before taking off running again.
“Get back here and finish what you started!” Harvey called as he took off running after her.
Esther might be off-putting to others, but to Harvey, she was exactly right.
